In June 2023, President Joe Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which imposed limits on discretionary spending for defense and nondefense programs in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling. As a result, most science agencies experienced budget cuts in fiscal year 2024, placing them well below the targets set out in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 is again hampering negotiations for fiscal year 2025, as it permits only a 1% growth over the prescribed fiscal year 2024 spending levels. Science agencies are thus braced for another tight budget year, and it is expected that any proposed increases will not make up for the cuts experienced in 2024.

As of late November 2024, when this story was written, Congress was working to enact the fiscal year 2025 budget before the current continuing resolution expired on December 20. However, the results of the 2024 U.S. election have generated much uncertainty about federal science spending in the future.

This year’s elections saw the Republican Party earning the majority in both the House and Senate, with a second presidential term for Donald Trump on the horizon. While it remains unclear exactly how federal science agencies will be impacted in the coming years, the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills proposed by the House and Senate show strong support for science and innovation, even though only a handful of science agencies are slated to see budget increases in 2025.

A few highlights from the proposals:

*Data from the American Institute of Physics FYI “Federal Science Budget Tracker.”

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense is anticipated to see a slight decrease in budget after consistent growth in recent years. Despite a proposal by Senate appropriators to provide emergency funding for the DOD, thereby bypassing the limitations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, House appropriators proposed budget increases for science agencies without dipping into emergency funds. So, House appropriators are unlikely to support the Senate proposal.

The DOD’s research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) accounts grew to $152 billion last year, and this year the White House, House, and Senate appropriators are requesting 5%, 2%, and 3% decreases, respectively. Spending in the Science and Technology portfolio is once again set to drop significantly, with the White House requesting a 20% decrease. House and Senate appropriators proposed decreases of 11% and 6%, respectively.

Despite plummets in the Science and Technology portfolio, Senate appropriators requested a significant increase of 41% for the Space Force S&T, which aligns with known efforts to increase U.S. engagements in space and gain an edge ahead of competing countries, such as China.

National Science Foundation

The White House seeks to increase the budgets for most nondefense agencies in 2025, with a proposed increase of 12% to the National Science Foundation’s annual budget. Both House and Senate appropriators proposed slight increases of 2% and 5%, respectively, although neither proposal will fully make up for the cut NSF experienced in 2024.

Funding for NSF decreased by nearly 12% to roughly $9.1 billion in fiscal year 2024, falling short of the ambitious funding levels called for in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. In 2023, Congress provided a $1 billion supplement to NSF, framing it as a downpayment for the CHIPS and Science Act, when the reality was that Congress was attempting to avoid 2023 budget limits. House and Senate appropriators are unlikely to provide a similar type of supplement this year, as Congress is starting to spread thin over special legislation maneuvers.

Department of Energy

The White House proposed to increase the DOE budget by 7.5% to $51.4 billion, which is an increase of 3.6 billion from the 2023 enacted level. Senate and House appropriators proposed budgets in the opposite directions, with the Senate requesting an increase of 2% to $52.3 billion and the House requesting a decrease of 3% to $49.9 billion.

Office of Science

Senate appropriators proposed raising the budget for the Office of Science by 4% to approximately $8.6 billion, while House appropriators proposed just a slight increase of 2% to $8.4 billion. The White House proposal aligns almost exactly with the Senate, with a request just shy of $8.6 billion. The proposed increases reflect support for DOE’s National Laboratories and partner universities; however, the final budget will likely not reach levels authorized through the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

Applied energy

The White House is requesting a 12% increase to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, in addition to a slight decrease of 2% for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy. In contrast, House appropriators are proposing a 43% decrease to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy while Senate appropriators are proposing a slight decrease of 0.6%.

Regarding the Office of Nuclear Energy, the White House proposed a decrease of 6% to the $1.7 billion budget, with House and Senate appropriators requesting a 6% increase and 0.6% decrease, respectively.

National Nuclear Security Administration

The NNSA budget currently sits at $24.1 billion, with the White House, House, and Senate appropriators each proposing further increases ranging from about $25 billion to $25.5 billion. House appropriators requested an additional $470 million above the budget request to support nuclear weapons stockpiling, continued investment in NNSA’s infrastructure, prevent the influx of nuclear materials, and support the naval nuclear propulsion program.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Along with the National Science Foundation, NIST also experienced significant budget cuts in fiscal year 2024, with a roughly 8.3% decrease. This year, the White House proposed increasing the current $1.2 billion budget of the National Institute of Standards and Technology by 30%, with Senate appropriators proposing an increase of 13% and House appropriators requesting a slight increase of 1%.

The proposed budget increase intends to address aging facility needs and maintenance backlogs, stimulate artificial intelligence research, and advance quantum information science and technology, among other tasks. However, NIST funding levels still will fall short of what was authorized for the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, as the agency has taken the brunt of budget cuts based on percentage in recent years.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Both the White House and Senate appropriators requested a 3% increase to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate budget. On the other hand, House appropriators requested flat funding from the previous year. Like other nondefense science agencies, the NASA Science Mission Directorate is expected to see a slight increase in funding this year; however, a 3% increase would only partially reverse the 6% cut it received in 2024.

The 2025 science budget request of $7.6 billion also includes $200 million for the Mars Sample Return Mission, which was a point of contention between House and Senate appropriators last year due to its significant cost compared to other missions. The proposed science budget plans to invest in more than 125 space missions, of which 54 are currently preparing for launch.

National Institutes of Health

Senate appropriators requested an increase of 4% to the National Institutes of Health current budget of $48.6 billion, while House appropriators did not request any changes. Like the previous year, the House proposal again requests a significant decrease of 67% to the Advanced Projects Agency for Health. Aside from this outstanding request, the Senate proposal requests to keep most funding levels the same or at a slight increase.

In a surprising turn of events, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which includes annual funding for NIH and similar organizations, includes a proposition by House appropriators to substantially restructure the organization. They are requesting that NIH’s 27 agencies be consolidated into 15.

For more information on the federal budget, visit the American Institute of Physics FYI “Federal Science Budget Tracker” at https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/budget-tracker.

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By Helen Widman

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